In between travelling for concert dates, parenting daughter Grace and doing homework as she earned her GED, Gretchen Wilson has started recording the fourth album of her career. The album has a heavy Southern rock feel to it, as Gretchen picks up on some of the influences that helped her get signed to a recording deal in the first place.

"The record is awesome," she told the national radio show GAC Nights: Live From Nashville. "I wanted to try to track six songs on my first day in, but I only got four, which is kind of disappointing to me — but they’re four killers, though. I mean, it’s been like making the record that I was supposed to make the first time around, sort of. And it feels like old stuff, in a way that it feels familiar, but it also feels like when you listen to the four sides back to back, it’s got more of a Southern rock flow to it, like a female Southern rock record."

That makes sense, given that in her very first hit, "Redneck Woman," Gretchen namechecked Southern rock pioneer Charlie Daniels.

Gretchen will likely provide more insight on the album when she discusses her career during the CMA Celebrity Close Up Series June 5 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Slated during the CMA Music Festival, the event allows fans to ask questions of Gretchen, Randy Travis and Taylor Swift. Tickets are $12 in advance or $17 the day of the event. To purchase, call 1-800-CMA-FEST (262-3378) or visit ticketmaster.com. The Close Up chat will also become a GAC special.